KDLT-TV

KDLT-TV / KDLV-TV
KDLT: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
KDLV: Mitchell, South Dakota
United States
Branding KDLT (general)
KDLT News (newscasts)
Slogan We Know What Matters
Channels Digital:
KDLT: 47 (UHF)
Virtual: 46 (PSIP)
KDLV: 26 (UHF)
Virtual: 5 (PSIP)
Subchannels xx.1 NBC
xx.2 Antenna TV
Affiliations NBC (1960–1969, 1983–present)
Owner Red River Broadcasting
(Red River Broadcast Company, LLC)
First air date KDLT: June 12, 1960 (1960-06-12) (on channel 5, moved to channel 46 on September 8, 1998)
KDLV: September 8, 1998 (1998-09-08)
Call letters' meaning KDLT: K-DakotaLand Television (former owners)
KDLV: K-DakotaLand V (Roman numeral 5)
Former callsigns KDLT:KORN-TV (1960–1972)
KXON-TV (1972–1982)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
KDLT:
5 (VHF, 1960-1998)
46 (UHF, 1998–2009)
KDLV:
5 (VHF, 1998–2009)
Former affiliations ABC (1969–1983)
Transmitter power KDLT: 1000 kW
KDLV: 1000 kW
Height KDLT: 608 m
KDLV: 315 m
Facility ID KDLT: 55379
KDLV: 55375
Transmitter coordinates KDLT:
43°30′18″N 96°33′22″W / 43.50500°N 96.55611°W / 43.50500; -96.55611
KDLV:
43°45′33″N 98°24′44″W / 43.75917°N 98.41222°W / 43.75917; -98.41222 (KDLV-TV)
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: / KDLV-TV Profile
/ KDLV-TV CDBS
Website www.kdlt.com

KDLT-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, serving Eastern South Dakota and Southwestern Minnesota. The station broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 47, which remaps to analog channel 46 via PSIP. It also operates a full-powered satellite station: KDLV-TV in Mitchell, South Dakota (digital channel 26, virtual channel 5). KDLT's studios and offices are located on South Westport Avenue in Sioux Falls and its 2,000 feet (610 m) transmitter tower is located south near Rowena.

History

On June 12, 1960, KDLT started broadcasting from Mitchell, South Dakota as KORN-TV on channel 5, an NBC affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation. The station's original call letters were intended to honor the famous Mitchell Corn Palace. It was owned by Mitchell Broadcasting Associates. Only a month later, KSOO-TV (now KSFY-TV) signed on. From then until 1969, KSOO-TV and KORN-TV operated as a regional network, although separately owned. KSOO-TV served the eastern portion of the market, while KORN-TV served the western portion. But in April 1969, the Federal Communications Commission ruled against this combination, suggesting that they operate as competitors in the Sioux Falls-Mitchell market. So on May 12 of that year, Channel 5 affiliated with ABC and moved its tower closer to Sioux Falls, although KCAU-TV in Sioux City was well received in Sioux Falls and identified at that time as Siouxland ABC. Mitchell Broadcasting sold the station to Buford Television of Tyler, Texas in 1972.

In 1972, the station changed its calls to KXON-TV. Buford sold the station to Gillett Broadcasting in 1978. In 1982, KXON changed its call letters to KDLT when it was purchased by Dakotaland Broadcasting. The next year, KDLT and KSFY switched affiliations, with KSFY getting ABC and KDLT once again getting NBC. At the time of the switch KSFY had three full-power transmitters to KDLT's one and ABC was the #1 network with NBC in third, making it logical for the more popular network to align with a station with better coverage. The next year NBC and ABC ratings flip-flopped leaving KDLT once again affiliated with the more popular network. Dakotaland Broadcasting eventually sold KDLT to Heritage Broadcasting in 1985. Heritage Broadcasting became Heritage Media in 1987 when it merged with Rollins Telecasting. The station eventually moved its main studio to Sioux Falls in the mid to late 1980s.

Heritage Media sold KDLT to its current owner Red River Broadcasting in 1994. On September 8, 1998, KDLT moved its city of license to Sioux Falls and began broadcasting on channel 46 from a new tower in Rowena, where most of the other Sioux Falls stations have their towers. This was largely because the channel 5 tower was too far away from Sioux Falls to adequately cover it with a digital signal. FCC rules required a station's digital signal to cover at least 80 percent of its analog footprint. Channel 5 in Mitchell survives as a full-power satellite, KDLV.

Due to the way the changeover was structured legally, KDLV operates under KDLT's old license on channel 5.[1] KDLT's current facility, on channel 46 in Sioux Falls, is officially a new license; its construction permit was issued on April 1, 1997 under the call letters KDLV; the two stations swapped callsigns on September 8, 1998.[2]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[3][4]
x.1 1080i 16:9 KDLT-DT
KDLV-DT 		Main programming / NBC
x.2 480i 4:3[5] KDLT-SD
KDLV-SD 		Antenna TV [6]

Analog-to-digital conversion

Both stations shut down their analog signals respectively on February 1, 2009:[7]

Translators

Besides KDLV, the programming of KDLT is also rebroadcast on the following translator stations:

Transmitter antenna replacement

The station's television transmitter antenna replacement was featured on the National Geographic Channel television show World's Toughest Fixes.[8]

References

  1. ↑ FCC callsign history for KDLV-TV
  2. ↑ http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=55379&Callsign=KDLT-TV
  3. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KDLT
  4. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KDLV
  5. ↑ "Digital Antenna: Sioux Falls, SD 57101". SiliconDust.com. Silicondust USA, Inc. - HDHomeRun. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  6. ↑ "TitanTV Programming Guide - KDLV and KDLT". TitanTV.com. Broadcast Intrractive Media, L.L.C. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  7. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  8. ↑ http://www.realtelevision.net/2008/10/17/worlds-toughest-fixes-2000-foot-tower/

External links

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